Ross watched his hands tremble both from the terror he felt and the attack dealt by the construct.
'Damnit! How do I get out of this situation? I know the fear is being induced in me yet I can't stop myself from shaking. How am I supposed to fight at full strength if my body won't perform at full strength?!'
The thought frustrated him to no end. Shifting his eyes from his trembling hands, he gazed at the slow-approaching monster with gritted teeth and trembling eyes.
He then took deep breaths to calm his shaking body and managed to get back to his feet. Then, he channelled mana through the great sword with more effort than was needed.
After managing to direct his weapon at the monster, Ross willed himself to move despite every cell in his body screaming at him to run.
With a roar of defiance, he charged at the monster, set his sword in flames and swung in a wide arc with both arms. The blade of the heavy sword cut through the space as it neared the body of the monster.
The creature just observed the actions of Ross with a look that would have been a sneer if had any features that could make one.
The sword blazing with intense heat dug into the body of the creature with ease, cutting through tissues and whatever the creature was until it came out the other side.
Ross's eyes were wide in disbelief as he expected the creature to respond to his assault. Yet, what the creature did instead was to allow the blade to cut through it with no resistance from the monster.
What was more perplexing was the fact that Ross had expected the creature to be stronger and tougher than any other creature he had ever faced.
Soon the momentum of the great word swing came to an end despite its trembling form. However, Ross looked at the creature with an inquiring gaze, half expecting the creature to respond to his questioning gaze and half expecting it to retaliate heavily.
"What the…"
Ross could almost swear the creature had a taunting expression on its features. And in his frozen and socked form, he failed to see the damage he just dealt heal at speeds visible to the naked eye.
Suddenly, the monster swung one of its tendrils as it swooshed through the space and whipped Ross away with vengeance.
"Urgh!"
He groaned in pain at the unfairness of the situation as he was sent flying faster than before.
'How is this fair?! I'm supposed to defeat this thing while I'm trembling like a leaf. At the same time, it looks like magic isn't going to do the trick either.
'Come on think! There has to be another way to beat this monster.'
Ross wiped the blood leaking from the corner of his lips in ragged breaths as the damage from the whiplash, pun intended, stung him to no end.
"Huu…"
His trembling eyes and body focused on the monster once again as it moved at its own pace without a care in the world.
In its view, it had all the time in the world to deal with Ross any way it pleased. At least until he was able to figure out a way out of his impossible dilemma.
Ross's eyes darted around at high speeds searching for something that looked out of place in this weird space. Yet he got no such luck.
The swirling of beautiful and wonderous colours made him feel dizzy the more he focused on the space. However, he did notice something he had missed earlier.
In the mass of swirling mesmerizing colours were areas that had more room for single colours than the others.
Some had larger areas with red being the most colour present, others had blue, yellow, and so forth. And while the mixture of colours was the most common element present, these unique areas held their single colours without interference from the mixtures.
For a moment, Ross didn't think much about them, but in his desire to find a difference in this madness, those colours were the only things that looked out of place even though they blended well with their environment.
'Wait…'
A sudden thought emerged from the depths of his mind as he recalled something he once read. His still trembling figure looked at the monstrosity approaching with slightly narrowed eyes.
'When I arrived here, the first thing I paid attention to was the mixture of swirling colours that drew me in. That was when I was affected by the intense fear, But before that, I felt the rising of different emotions!'
Finally, something clicked.
Recalling what he read, some colours were associated with emotions. Some can represent a multitude of emotions that fall in the same category yet are distinctively different.
His gaze shifted to the red, 'passion, love, anger, energy and intensity.'
Then blue, 'calmness and tranquillity.'
His mind recalled everything he could and a small smile graced his trembling features. His eyes moved over the monster that was almost a tentacle's reach from him.
Despite his quivering lips, he flashed the creature a smile that made the monster stop for a brief moment.
'Now!'
And at that moment, Ross made a mad dash to the space with the red colour. That area was just adjacent to the monster and as soon as the monster spotted his actions it dashed after him just as quickly, if not faster.
'I knew it!'
With renowned vigour, he closed in on the unique red space and leapt the rest of the distance there. The monster increased its pace in an attempt to stop him, yet Ross was already too close.
For a moment, Ross turned to look at the monster that had one of its tendrils reach for his leg, yet missing it by a hair's breadth.
*CLANG!*
Ross spun around as he faced the monster mid-air the moment he landed in the red zone. And the moment his feet touched the ground, the overwhelming terror he felt since he stepped into the abstract space changed into a raging inferno that mirrored his fire abilities.
His body was instantly filled with such anger that he felt empowered with so much energy. His decreased prowess suddenly had a jump and he vertically placed the great sword before him when the second tentacle reached him.
"Time for payback"
He grinned viciously as his eyes, body and weapon flared up with mana. He let out a roar so steeped in anger before his body disappeared and then reappeared above the monster, his sword positioned above his head as he swung it with all the energy he could muster.